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FIFA has no choice but to embrace technologySoccer Betting Lines06/29/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FIFA President Sepp Blatter apologized to both England and Mexico on Tuesday for officiating errors, and admitted it was time to take another look at goal-line technology. Perhaps Blatter should start by reviewing his own comments, which did nothing but state the obvious. "With what we have experienced here, it would be nonsense to not re-open the file on technology," Blatter said. "I deplore the obvious refereeing mistakes we have seen." Yes, Sepp. But are you actually going to fix the problem? We're waiting. We've been waiting. And it's getting old. FIFA has discussed the use of technology for years, but has been unwilling to follow any of the models used successfully in American football, baseball and hockey. Not to mention tennis, which has a system to follow a tiny ball going at insane speeds. Blatter still said Tuesday "we have to accept mistakes." After the slew of mistakes in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this summer, it is very obvious Blatter has to seriously rethink the matter. Apologizing to England and Mexico, teams hurt in round of 16 games by goals that were disallowed and allowed, respectively, does not make a difference now. England's Frank Lampard scored a goal ... err ... did not score, in a 4-1 defeat to Germany. A glance at the final score seems to make the call, which disallowed a goal although the ball clearly crossed the line, irrelevant. But, Lampard's non-goal would have tied the game at 2-2 late in the opening half. The pessimistic British fan would have expected to lose in penalty kicks - see semifinals of 1990 World Cup and Euro 1996 - but you never know. Replays, which took all of seconds to flash around the world, showed the goal should have stood. It would have taken all of a minute for the referee to run to the sideline and take a look in a replay booth, so the argument of slowing the game down should fall on deaf ears. Consider the controversy involving Mexico, when after a goal from Argentina's Carlos Tevez who was yards offsides, both teams spent minutes huddled around the referee and his assistant as they discussed the play. Obviously, offsides brings another challenge altogether to replay, but if the referee has no problem taking a couple minutes to discuss the play, shouldn't he have the option of spending a few minutes to watch a replay? Officials already communicate through headsets during the game. Sepp, is that not a form of technology? It is time to take the next step. The credibility of the sport is at stake. Even if Blatter believes otherwise. "I cannot accept that the integrity of the competition and the referees is called into question," Blatter said. Earlier in this World Cup, United States midfielder Maurice Edu had a winning goal disallowed against Slovenia and nobody has figured out why. American Clint Dempsey is also part of the discussion, after he had a score erased for offsides when replays showed he was clearly onside. Officiating mistakes have been part of the game for too long. And it does not just happen at the World Cup. France qualified on the "Hand of Henry," a goal set up by striker Thierry Henry's handball in a playoff against Ireland. But, if nothing else, FIFA and the rest of the world has to embrace technology for goals. When Blatter gets together with the rest of the FIFA dictators, it would also be a good idea to discuss the obvious and disgraceful diving by players to draw fouls. Maybe Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo would actually stay on his feet long enough to score if such acting was outlawed. Ronaldo is one of the world's best players, but has made tripping over blades of grass into an art form. The worst example of diving in this World Cup was when Brazil's Kaka, another of the best players in the world, was run into by Ivory Coast's Kader Keitaan, who then fell in a manner that suggested he just got hit by a train. Kaka got a second yellow card (do not get me going that outdated system), and was ejected. Replays clearly showed that Keitaan initiated the contact with Kaka, and that the collision was chest-to-elbow. But Keita put on a Broadway play, grabbing his face to get the second yellow and an ejection for Kaka. Kaka was forced to serve a one-game ban. Blatter may have deflected a bit of the criticism surrounding the officiating for now, but with every game becoming more important and mistakes more significant, he could be in the cross hairs again soon. He insists FIFA will look into the officiating later this year, but what comes out of the meetings remains to be seen. "We will present a new model on how to improve high-level refereeing," Blatter said. "The question is to know what we shall do in the future." Technology, that's all you need, Sepp. Really, it's that simple.
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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit CardsMichael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football. As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL. The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago. Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996). But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side. Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show. Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East: Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1 Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2 New York Giants - 9 - 2 Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1). Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship. So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume. And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top. They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy. Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday. But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division. Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS. Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS. Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162. Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense? Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS. In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS. Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division. Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do. The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20. The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550. Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
FOOTBALL BETTINGAfter all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer. Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise. Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games. So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver. In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team. For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC. The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’. The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback. To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs. |
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